Two men detained for suspected drug smuggling after plane lands in Oceanside

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — The Piper Cherokee emergency landing was executed perfectly on State Route 76 by 21-year-old Gabriel Breit at 1:40 a.m. but his passenger did not share the pilot’s nerves of steel.

Police officers say 36-year-old Troy Smith, the passenger, was acting suspiciously.

“They observed one of the individuals discard a backpack into the nearby brush, which obviously raised concerns with one of the officers,” said Taurino Valdovinos, assistant police chief of Oceanside PD.

The two men were detained, and the initial rescue efforts shifted into a criminal drug smuggling investigation.

“During the investigation, a small amount of cocaine was located on the passenger of the plane and then the subsequent investigation into that revealed approximately one kilo of suspected cocaine in the backpack that was discarded,” Valdovinos said.

The flight tracker identified the flight originating from Arizona with its destination in Oceanside, but reported engine problems brought the plane down just a mile shy from the quiet low security airport.

The Piper Cherokee was a rental and now the North County Drug Task Force is looking into other people who could be involved.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking into why the plane came down, and law enforcement officials are trying to understand how big the alleged drug smuggling efforts are.

“It doesn’t surprise me. I think we have narcotics coming into our country in many ways,” said Valdovinos. “I think the surprising part is the emergency landing and how we came across it.”

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